I'm a Libertarian living in Humboldt County, CA. I've lived here in Eureka since 1973 and joined the Libertarian Party in 1992. This blog will mostly focus on local political issues, but I may stray into state and national issues as well, when I can't help myself. Please post your comments by clicking on the "comments" link at the bottom of each post. Although I do moderate comments, you need not be a registered user to post them.

Thursday, November 01, 2007

Reason T.V. #2

Reason T.V. has its second Drew Carey clip out now. This time he's talking about medical marijuana.

If you scroll down on the Reason T.V. page, you'll see a link to a clip of Bill O'Reilly going after Reason's, Jacob Sullum, over the issue of the drug war. The few times I've watched O'Reilly I haven't had too much of a problem with him but, in this case, he comes off like some of the authoritarians that frequent this blog.

O'Reilly is seriously deranged. As much as I'm amazed to admit that I'm in agreement with Fred and ΛΕΟΝΙΔΑΣ. Even though you didn't seem to mind that he talks like a complete perv on national TV, whatever

However I have A couple of questions. .

What Constitutes Bill O'Reilly's credentials as a "gun grabber" ?

Y'all are throwing around the word "authoritarian" quite a bit Define authoritarian ?

robash, O'Reilly qualifies as a gun grabber by his stated positions on various oppressive gun control laws and proposals (ie both Brady I & II as well as registration) enacted and introduced in the legislatures.

"Authoritarianism describes a form of social control characterized by strict obedience to [and reliance on] the authority of a state or organization, often maintaining and enforcing control through the use of oppressive measures...including many matters that other political philosophies would see as erosion of civil liberties and freedom." Authoritarianism is not confined to any particular wing of the political spectrum. A frequent tactic of those who subscribe to authoritarianism is to simply ridicule or dismiss any opposing opinion or position as "goofy", "dumb", "racist", " _____phobic" or "left/right wing" while not offering any conflicting rationale. It usually is merely laziness or evidence of effective indoctrination and frequently in evidence in comments on this blog

robash: "Even though you didn't seem to mind that he talks like a complete perv on national TV, whatever"Ever notice that channel selector on your TV remote? Or are you suggesting he be silenced? That sounds kind of "authoritarian".

ΛΕΟΝΙΔΑΣ does not seem averse to throwing around highly charged terms like "oppressive" when talking very generally about gun ownership restrictions.What in his opinion, constitutes an "oppressive" gun control measure?

It appears that "highly charged terms" like "oppressive" are only "thrown around" by non progressive commenters. Whereas terms such as "right wing", "moron" "loony" "stupid" "torture" "ignorant" etc. are invariably used by the progressives and NOT highly charged? Please Rob, get a grip.

An example of an "oppressive" (authoritarian) gun control measure would be the California law (12071.1 CPC and 12082 CPC) that require ALL transfers of legal firearms whether as gifts, loans, inheritances, trades or private sales between law abiding citizens be channeled through licensed dealers (with the waiting period and fees) which many government agencies are attempting to close with various regulations. It is legitimate to prohibit criminals from the ownership of firearms and prosecute them for a violation of that prohibition (which the state is very selective in doing) but the transfer requirement, like most others, inconveniences only law abiding citizens not the criminals who will ignore it in any event. After all , these items are property and an analogy would be for the government to require all vehicle transfers to proceed through a used car dealer. We all know that vehicles "harm more people than guns":o).

I have no idea what O'Reilly's position is on each of the 12,000+ gun laws now in force.

Well there certainly no shortage of right wing, moronic loony, stupid tortuously ignorant Ideas floating around on the blogosphere. Sometimes I can't help myself but to point out the obvious.

It's not like liberals don't get their fair share of abuse on the blogs and on radio, newspapers and TV. Please don't give me this crybaby act about how your side is getting picked on soooo much more than everyone else. lest you start to sound like Bill O'Reilly.

That example you cited was a good one. Maybe they should have something like the DMV to handle firearm transfers between private parties rather than going through a dealer. Just like one has to do when selling a used car.

You mentioned the selective prosecution of firearm possession by crooks, Do you believe a failure of the law or is it a failure of law enforcement?

robash141: "Well there certainly [is] no shortage of right wing, moronic loony, stupid tortuously ignorant Ideas floating around on the blogosphere. Sometimes I can't help myself but to point out the obvious."

My reference was to ad hominem statements. Our disagreement with ideas does not necessarily make them "stupid, loony, moronic etc." unless we offer supporting reasoning. Hurling epithets is a poor substitute for reasoned argument.

"It's not like liberals don't get their fair share of abuse..."

You mean like at the NYT, LAT, TIME, Air America, DU and Daily Kos?

"Please don't give me this crybaby act..."

You are the one who complained about: "...throwing around highly charged terms..."

" Maybe they should have something like the DMV to handle firearm transfers..."

Just what is needed. The "progressive" solution: another bureaucracy. Are you by chance unemployed?

You mentioned the selective prosecution of firearm possession by crooks, Do you believe [it is] a failure of the law or is it a failure of law enforcement?

In Humboldt county (my personal experience) DA office resources are diverted to prosecuting businesses for civil "offenses" to the neglect of violent crimes reported to it by law enforcement agencies.